la malaria

bamako, mali

it was more a matter of when and not if, i suppose. my fourth extended trip to africa, and the pesky parasite spread by the anopheles mosquito has finally made its introduction. i take the malarial prophylactic daily, wear dark colors at sunset, take a russian bath in bugspray each evening. but man has not completely overcome nature in this arena.

felt a tad lethargic yesterday morning, though that's not too far from the norm (a friend once commented that i have two speeds: slow and roll around in the dirt). but soon i heard the chamber below give a little rumble and my egg sandwiches no longer wanted to stay down there. then the malaise. i spent the better part of five hours lying prostrate in the guest bedroom, with the occasional interlude to determine which end the next 'movement' was going to come out of (the score is close to tied).

as per my experience with the illness, i think it closely parallels the insect that it comes from. nobody becomes enraged at the mere presence of a mosquito, they're just annoying. you try to swat them away, try to get them to stop buzzing in your ear, but it never really overwhelms you. with malaria, it's that nothing hurts, but everything aches. all you do is rest, but you rarely sleep. i haven't found it overwhelming or getting the best of me, i just find it annoying. go away!

but i have it lucky. millions die in africa each year from the parasite while i should be more or less good to go tomorrow morning. the consultation at the clinic, the bloodwork, and the medicine set me back close to $40. i'm happy to pay it to get rid of this pest, but there are millions of people who cannot afford such treatment and public health care facilities do not have the funding to pick up the weight. death and disease are always sad. death from preventable disease is tragic. so while i will be back to a clean bill of health in no time, i have a much stronger sense of compassion for those less fortunate.